Facebook is wanting to make it easier for more people to connect with businesses on WhatsApp and Instagram. The social media network announced at its F8 Refresh event that it is now opening up more ways through which there will be better communication between the customers and the businesses.
Facebook said 90 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business. The social media company is rolling out various tools for developers so that businesses can easily message customers on Instagram and WhatsApp. For WhatsApp, the chat App says that it is cutting down the time it takes for businesses to get up and running on WhatsApp from weeks to just five minutes..
WhatsApp says it will now support more types of messages. For example, to let people know when an item is back in stock. This has been due to businesses being limited to sending only timely notifications, which made it difficult to follow up with customers outside of a 24-hour window.
Another new Messaging feature includes new list messages that present a menu of up to 10 options so people no longer need to type out a response. “Reply buttons will allow people to quickly make a selection from up to three options with just a quick tap that a business can set ahead of time through their WhatsApp Business API account”, said WhatsApp.
“As always, people remain in control of their chats. People still need to reach out to start a conversation or request a business contact them via WhatsApp”, the social media chat app further notes.